Bronze and Boxwood: Renaissance Masterpieces from the Robert H. Smith Collection

January 27 – May 4, 2008

West Building, Main Floor, Galleries 74 and 75, East Garden Court

This exhibition is no longer on view at the National Gallery.

Overview: 47 bronzes and 8 ivory and boxwood sculptures on loan from the collection of Robert H. Smith were presented in this exhibition of small sculptures created in 16th- and 17th-century Europe. Among works on display were an early cast of Giovanni Bologna's Cesarini Venus and the earliest version of his sculpture The Birdcatcher.

An opening-day lecture, Modeling, Carving, Casting, Finishing: Four Aspects of the Works in Bronze, Boxwood, and Ivory Exhibited in the Robert H. Smith Collection, was presented by Nicholas Penny, senior curator of sculpture and decorative arts; Karen Serres and Dylan Smith, Robert H. Smith research conservators; and Shelley Sturman, senior conservator and head of object conservation, National Gallery of Art.

Organization: The exhibition was organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington. Nicholas Penny, senior curator of sculpture and decorative arts, was the curator.

Sponsor: The exhibition was sponsored by The Exhibition Circle of the National Gallery of Art.

Attendance: 81,785

Brochure:Bronze and Boxwood: Renaissance Masterpieces from the Robert H. Smith Collection by Karen Serres et al. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 2008.

Image:Installation view of Bronze and Boxwood: Renaissance Masterpieces from the Robert H. Smith Collection, photo by Rob Shelley, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Gallery Archives